Use of 3D Images to Evaluate Formation Damage Induced by Montmorillonite Fines in Porous Media Systems

This research was made possible by the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grant #NPRP8-594-2-244 from Qatar national research fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The findings achieved herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The SMT images were collected using the X-ray Operations and Research Beamline Station 13-BMD at Argonne Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory. The authors thank Dr. Mark Rivers of APS for help in performing the SMT scans. They also acknowledge the support of GeoSoilEnviroCARS (Sector 13), which is supported by the National Science Foundation, USA, Earth Sciences (EAR-1128799), and the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Geosciences (DE-FG02-94ER14466). Use of the Advanced Photon Source, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory, was supported by DOE, USA under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357.